History of Women in Utah

Utah is unique in that it is the only state where white women gained the right to vote, lost it, then gained it back again. Utah Territory granted women's suffrage, or voting rights, in February 1870. Seraph Young, a schoolteacher, was the first woman in the state to cast a vote in the Salt Lake City municipal election on Valentine’s Day 1870.[1]

One of the reasons why Utah recognized women's right to vote involves the debate around polygamy. Some people outside of the territory viewed Utah women as victims of polygamy and hoped that they would vote to outlaw the practice. However, many LDS women considered polygamy, which they called "plural marriage," to be a core tenet of their faith. Utah officials hoped that granting women's suffrage would help change negative perceptions of the LDS Church and its treatment of women.[1]

Anti-polygamists were frustrated that the women of Utah were not voting as they had hoped and lobbied the US Congress to pass the Edmunds-Tucker Act in 1887.  One of the implications of this Act was that the women of Utah lost the right to vote.  Once Utah ended the practice of polygamy and gained statehood universal suffrage was restored. ^[1][2]

Utah women were re-enfranchised when Utah gained statehood in 1896. That same year 3 women were elected to state office: Dr. Martha Hughes Cannon, Sarah Anderson, and Eurithe LaBarthe. ^[3]

Dr. Cannon was successfully elected to the Utah State Senate representing Salt Lake County, becoming the first woman elected to the office of State Senator in the entire United States. She defeated both her husband Angus and her mentor Emmeline B. Wells (an early suffragette).^[4]  Dr. Cannon was the fourth of six wives of Angus, when Mormons were being charged with polygamy in Utah during the late 19th century, Dr. Cannon hid in Europe to avoid testifying against her husband.[5]  

While in the Utah Senate Dr. Cannon passed bills which helped create a State Board of Health, protected women workers, and opened a school for deaf and blind children.  While in office she continued to practice medicine and gave birth to her third child.^[5]  When testifying about the long road of women suffrage in Utah Dr. Cannon had this to say:

“Women have quietly assumed the added power which always was theirs by right, and with the grace and ready adaptation to circumstances peculiar to the women of America, they have so conducted themselves that they have gained admiration and respect while losing none of their old-time prestige” ^[6]

Both Sarah Anderson and Eurithe LaBarthe were elected to the Utah House of Representatives.  Sarah fought against the revoking of women’s right to vote in 1887, fighting the legislation in court.  Eurithe was chair of the Education Committee while in the House, her most memorable legislation was the “High Hat Law” which required that women remove their hats in places of public entertainment so they wouldn't block the view of other patrons.

In 1920 the US Congress ratified the 19th Amendment granting women’s suffrage throughout the nation.  However, even with a constitutional amendment not all women were allowed the right to vote.  Legal barriers made it impossible for Black and African Americans to vote, and the wording of “citizen” prevented Native Americans as well as many Asian Americans (who weren’t allowed to apply for citizenship). [1]

The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 granted citizenship to Native Americans.  Despite this, Utah passed local laws banning Native Americans from voting.  It wasn’t until 1957 that the state legislature repealed this legislation, becoming the last state to allow its Indigenous population the right to vote.^[7]  

The McCarran-Walter Act of 1952 allowed immigrants from Asia to become naturalized citizens.  Finally, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 made state and local barriers which prevented Black and African Americans from voting illegal. ^[1]

There have been many political clubs with the purpose of supporting women running for office.  A few of these include the League of Women Voters established in the early-20th century, ^[8] Women’s Republican Club,^[9] Women’s Democratic Club ^[10] (both established at the end of the 19th century), and Utah Women & Politics established in 2017. ^[11]

To this day, Utah has never had a woman represent it as a US Senator and only one woman, Olene Walker, has served as Governor.  Walker was promoted from Lieutenant Governor to Governor in 2003 after elected Governor Mike Leavitt left office to accept an appointment to the Environmental Protection Agency by President George W. Bush.^[3]

*women’s suffrage= women’s right to vote

[1] Utah Women's History (2018, February 9). Gaining, Losing, and Winning Back the Vote: The Story of Utah Women’s Suffrage. Better Days Curriculum. https://utahwomenshistory.org/2018/02/receiving-losing-and-winning-back-the-vote-the-story-of-utah-womens-suffrage/

‌[2] Utah Historical Society:1870-1896: Women’s Suffrage. (n.d.). I Love History. https://ilovehistory.utah.gov/1870-1896-womens-suffrage/

[3] Madsen, Dr. S., & Pierucci, C. (2020). A Historical View of Women in Utah’s Top Political Roles [Review of A Historical View of Women in Utah’s Top Political Roles]. Utah Women & Leadership Project. https://www.usu.edu/uwlp/files/snapshot/28.pdf

[‌4]  Clark, Rebekah (2018, January 23). Better Days 2020. Better Days 2020. https://www.betterdays2020.com/blog/2018/1/23/martha-hughes-cannon

[5] Grana, M. (2009). Pioneer, Polygamist, Politician. Rowman & Littlefield.

‌[6] Cannon, M. (1898). Women Suffrage in Utah [Review of Women Suffrage in Utah]. Statement of Martha Cannon before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary.  https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org/assets/0c6ab85e-8707-4f9f-8c4d-366b48bcc084/0/4

[‌7] Robinson, J. (2019, March 28). Utah and Native American Voting Rights - Utah Women’s History - Better Days. Utah Women’s History - Better Days. https://utahwomenshistory.org/2019/03/utah-and-native-american-voting-rights/

‌[8] League of Women Voters. (2010). History | League of Women Voters. Lwv.org. https://www.lwv.org/about-us/history

‌[9] Utah Federation of Women’s Republican Clubs records - Archives West. (2019). Orbiscascade.org. https://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:80444/xv44140

‌[10] Club History - Women’s Democratic Club of Utah. (2025). Wdcutah.org. https://www.wdcutah.org/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=576336&module_id=352942

‌[11] What We Do. (n.d.). Utah Women & Politics. https://www.utahwomenandpolitics.org/what-we-do

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